Fisheries displacement effects of managed areas: a case study of De Voordelta

In the process of implementing Marine Strategy Framework Directive measures, such as area closure, questions arise on the aspect of displacement of fisheries. Displacement is a relatively new topic to fisheries science, and no studies in the Dutch North sea are available. Because the MSFD measures are not yet implemented, actual displacement in the assigned areas cannot be studied yet. Therefore, displacement in historically closed/managed areas was studied. The Voordelta – specifically the Bottom protection area- was taken as the study area. The aim was to study if displacement could be analysed, and if so, to what extent displacement depends on the type of fisheries.